Menu

Supporting Work Ready Communities

Did you hear about “Work ready communities”? They are an important element in the effort to build a truly national system for work readiness. I need to say, I am totally impressed by their work.

At the core of this aspiration sit ACT National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRCs) that focus on certifying three essential skills – applied math, reading for information, and locating information.

Local organizations support people who want to go back to school and get these 3 essentials skills in order to get better chances for a job or college. For example, the Best GED Classes online prep course is all that people need in order to improve their education skills and get a college education and this is great news for all of us. The one obstacle is to change the perception of potential students.

Let me tell you a story.

Have I ever told you the story of how I use to be a people pleaser? Yes, I did? Okay great, so we can skip that part of the story. But in case you have no clue what a people pleaser is here is my personal definition. A People Pleaser: A person who is willing to sacrifice their own happiness for others’ enjoyment.

Not so pleasant huh? By the way, it didn’t leave much room for my own happiness and enjoyment. In fact, much of the time my happiness depended on another person. The only time it didn’t, was if there wasn’t another person in the room. I never ever thought I would be one of those people. But I was, when I really took a hard look at it.

I was more consumed with making sure everyone was having a good time. I focused my energy on keeping the peace in the room, while I was semi-miserable. I was so focused on what everyone else was doing, thinking, behaving that I totally forgot what was going on with me. Knowing how to properly prepare (and for free) for your ACT or SAT exam is the key to avoiding stress and acing every single one of your exams.

So here is the deal. I had to take responsibility for my own happiness. This meant not concerning myself in what other people would think or how they would react, which was the toughest part. I had to place the focus on me, what is going to make me feel good. Following up with lots of self-care actions (because without action there is no change). I essentially became more interested in what was happening on my side of the fence. What a concept, I know.

By doing this I was less worried by how others conducted their lives, and how it would affect my well being. Why? Because I was taking care of myself and my needs. I began creating my own security, and happiness. That is the last key part of being independent, I believe. There is no greater feeling of happiness than when you can emotional love yourself in the face of anything.

Now, being of service to others is awesome. I still partake in helping other people, but I do it now out of self-love. There is a big difference in making people happy out of manipulation and making others happy out of the goodness of your heart. The latter is more rewarding if you were wondering. What’s your secret?